Plush toy with anatomical features containing storage compartments

ABSTRACT

A plush toy animal figure with anatomical features configured to provide closable storage compartments.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/762911, filed 10 Feb. 2013 for Kelly Bagla, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally in the field of toys.

1. Nature of Toys

It is well understood in the toy industry that success of a product does not really depend upon a combination of appearance, function, and the pleasure it conveys to the user. That is because the user is rarely the person who makes the purchase decision. Rather, the economic success of a given toy design depends upon the perception of the parent or gift-buyer, who must judge whether the recipient will use the item and enjoy it.

Any design features that enhance the attraction of a toy to the real purchaser, therefore, can contribute substantially to the market success of the product—even when the purchaser will have little to do with the toy after it is acquired. Any design feature that makes the toy more attractive to the actual user—typically a child—will improve market performance only insofar as that attraction is communicated with the buyer (usually the parent).

Truly unique toys occur mostly in the world of high-technology. Virtually all basic dolls, construction sets, and similar playthings have been offered to the market, with only minor features differentiating one from another.

Toy makers, distributors, and retailers are constantly seeking new basic toys that provide a feature that is not simply a re-work of designs from the past. Parents and other toy-buyers are also looking for basic and simple toys with unique features that increase their play value, attraction, and satisfaction.

The toy industry is comprised of designers, manufacturers, distributors, marketers, and retailers. Each link in this chain constantly seeks innovation.

High technology products are increasingly capturing market share at lower and lower ages, with well-designed toys that leave little to the imagination. Realistic figures move on color displays, controlled by joysticks, keyboards, tilted tablets, or even voice. This may be good preparation for productivity tools in the future, but such products do not provide a child with the personal comfort of a doll or plush toy, nor do high technology scenarios on a computer screen stimulate the child's imagination as much as play with static animals and human figures, to which the child can assign speech and behaviors. Most experts believe that a child's mind is best stimulated by such play, not by simply watching computer-driven action on a screen.

The toy industry is always ripe for new low-tech dolls and plush toys that induce purchase with beauty, comfort, and personal satisfaction, but there are finite permutations of the physical attributes of various animal and human figures. Unique physical features of a doll or plush toy could greatly increase its attraction to a child, and the perception of actual utility would stimulate a purchase decision by a parent.

2. Plush Toys

A “plush toy” is a toy product comprised of an outer skin or covering, typically of fabric, which creates the detailed visual features of the animal or object depicted by the concept. That skin is stuffed with foam or a material like batting, to provide the gross anatomical features and shape of the emulated animal or object.

Production of plush toys is usually in three steps. The skins are made at some cost-effective site and shipped to a second location where the stuffing is produced or purchased, and then the final product is assembled and packaged.

3. Prior Art

There are many design patents illustrating unique and interesting plush toys and dolls, but none provides the physical features and utility of the present invention.

Many utility patents also exist in the area of plush toys and dolls, and the area of storage means for playthings, but none provides the combination of play and functionality of the present invention.

In the marketplace, many toys are available with storage compartments of various sorts, but none that exploits the anatomical features of the animal represented by the toy, and most specifically, none that utilizes the ears of a toy elephant as storage containers.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,577 by Peter Yanofsky, initially filed on 19 Dec. 1997, shows a plush toy in at least two parts, with a concealed message at the interface(s) thereof.

US application 20100197190 by Lisa Lloyd, initially filed on 5 Feb. 2009, shows a plush toy in the form of a pillow, with a storage compartment in the form of a pull-out drawer, among other features.

US application 20070232186 by Ronnie Shamah, initially filed on 3 Apr. 2006, shows a plush toy with a storage compartment in the chest or back of the animal model. This invention is intended to apply to packaging, where a ribbon is pulled from the plush toy and used to secure a box, while the plush toy itself is a decorative item upon said box.

US application 20020168919 by Jeffrey Perkins, initially filed on 8 May 2002, shows a plush toy such as a teddy bear, with a cavity intended to conceal a prize.

US application 20110117809 by Anne Bowar, initially filed on 19 Nov. 2009, shows a plush toy that acts as an outer shell for storage of smaller toys.

While plush toys and dolls comprising prior art have served their purposes well for centuries, none was found in either patent files or the marketplace that provides the combination of amusement, comfort, satisfaction, practical utility, and enhanced marketability of the present invention.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide the conventional comfort, satisfaction, and entertainment of a plush toy or doll, with the added benefit of a unique utility function.

The present invention is intended to provide the user with a storage capability able to carry other items, with said storage integrated in a reasonable anatomical area of the toy.

The present invention increases its value to the child, who can store playthings and other items in one or more storage compartments.

Another objective is to increase perceived value in the mind of the parent or gift-giver, who will see not only a plush toy or doll but also a utility function that is not available from competing products.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention is comprised of a plush toy or doll, typically of an animal, with exaggerated anatomical features, typically ears, that are configured to provide storage compartments that can be secured with a fastening means, thus increasing the utility of the toy to the child using it, and the perceived value of the toy to the person making purchase decisions.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 1. Preferred Embodiment

The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a plush toy animal that is ordinarily considered to have large ears, such as an elephant.

At least one of the ears of the plush toy animal is made as a useful storage compartment, with access across the top in the form of an opening leading into the compartment.

Said storage compartment is reliably sealed to secure its contents, using sewn-in or adhesed magnet closures.

2. Variations Upon the Present Invention

The invention can be executed in the image of any animal with ears or other anatomical features that are sufficiently exaggerated as to provide space for storage.

The toy can be a doll or a stuffed plush toy representing any animal.

Physical features other than ears of the animal represented by the plush toy or doll can be exaggerated and used for storage in accordance with the present invention, including humps of a camel, the tail of a platypus or beaver, wings of a bird, fins of a fish, or any other appendage suitable to the configuration provided herein.

The storage compartment can be secured using magnets sewn into the top seams of the two edges of the compartment, such that they meet and attract to seal the compartment, but the same objective of closure can be attained using hook-and-loop (“Velcro”) fastening, buttons, zipper, a slot-and-tab fastener, or a simple flap.

The storage compartment can be lined with a waterproof material.

A removable inner bag can be provided, permitting all the objects contained in the storage compartment to be removed together. Said inner bag can then be laundered or cleaned independently of the entire toy.

The present invention can be executed as a toy that is not a “plush toy”, but is made of other materials, yet the concept is preserved when the design incorporates the described storage compartments.

The primary embodiment and these variations, as well as others that may reasonably and obviously come to mind when considering this description, are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 depicts a typical plush toy in the form of an elephant 1 with exaggerated ears 2 that have an opening at the top 3 leading to storage compartments 4 held closed by magnet sets 5.

FIG. 2 depicts the present invention in the form of a kitten plush toy 6 showing said exaggerated ears 2 with integrated storage compartments 4 containing playthings 7. 

I claim:
 1. A plush toy figure comprised of an outer shape-defining skin and interior stuffing, in a configuration representing an animal, at least one anatomical feature of which is sufficiently exaggerated to permit its use as a storage compartment, access to which is closable by a fastening means.
 2. The toy of claim 1 in the form of an elephant, with ears exaggerated such as to provide compartments for the storage and transport of smaller items.
 3. The toy of claim 1 made to be a waterproof means for storing small toys and similar objects, with at least one anatomical feature exaggerated to provide useful interior space fitted with a waterproof liner. 